CA2049317A1

CA2049317A1 - Plastic containers

Info

Publication number: CA2049317A1
Application number: CA002049317A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Howard C. Sworn; Brian Edwards
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: RPC Containers Ltd
Priority date: 1989-03-21
Filing date: 1990-03-20
Publication date: 1990-09-22
Also published as: EP0464097A1; WO1990011229A2; AU648021B2; EP0464097B1; NZ233004A; CN1045741A; AU5338990A; GB8906417D0; PT93511A; WO1990011229A3; ZA902138B; DE69017014D1

Abstract

A plastic container, in particular for paint or the like is formed from a container body (1) and a separate reinforcing shroud (2). A handle (3) is pivotally mounted by lugs (15) received in holes (16) extending through a double thickness wall defined by the shroud and container body. A lid (4) is in sealing engagement with the container body below the level of the handle and is in securing engagement with the shroud.

Description

~9~31'7 Plastics CoAntainers This invention relates to containers made of plastics material, hereinafter referred to as plastics containers. The invention is particularly concerned with plastics containers for holdinq paint, but containers according to the invention may be used for any other purpose that may be desired.
It is proposed to form the open top of such a container by way of a separately formed shroud secured ;~
around the top of the container body. Such a shroud can serve various purposes, for example to provide a sealing surface ~or a lid of the container, which makes a plug 15 fit in the shroud. ~owever, when the container is to be provided with a carrying handle, it may be disadvantageous to mount the handle by connec~ing it only to the said shroud, becausc o~ prohlems whlch will then arise in connecting the shroud to the conta'iner body securely enough to reliably support the weight of the container body and its contents in all circumstances, particularly under sudden strain.
Thus viewed from one aspect the present invention provides a plastics container having a carrying handle , mounted thereto at a plurality of locations, the container having an open top which is defined by a separately formed shroud secured around the top of the container body, the,container body and the shroud together providin~ wall regions of double thickness at ~-least at the said handle mounting locations, and the handle being connected to the container by way of holes extending'through said double thickness;wall regions.
Preferably the handle,is provided.with mounting lugs which extend into,the said holes, from tha outside.
When the container, is prov,ided with a lid, as-will o~
course be the case,with a container for paint, the saal between the lid and the container body should be located ' .' ,, wos~ 229 204~s ~ ~ PCT/GB90/00426 inwardly of, i.e. below, the said holes ~or mounting the handle, so as to ensure that no leakage of the container contents'can occur through the said holes when the lid is in place,'and also that there can be no inward leakage of air to the contents. However, means for securing the lid in its closed condition, separate from the lid seal, may conveniently be located outwardly of, i.e. above, the said holes.
If an air-tight seal is re~uired, for example when the container is for solvent-borne paints, the lid seal may be provided by means of a ~lowed-in gasket of polymeric material on either the lid or the container body in the sealing zone therebetween, which gasket is different in material ~r composition from the said lid or body and is, in its working condition, softer than the material of the latter; further details o~ this sealing concept may be obtained from our British Patent Application No. ~20393~O.
The concept of locating the lid seal inwardly of the handle holes is not necessarily bound up with the provision of a shroud on the container body. Thus viewed from another ~spect the invention provides a plastics container having a carrying handle mounted thereto at a plurality of locations, and having a Iid arranged ko make sealing engagement inside the mouth of the container, wherein the lid is connected to the container by way of holes extending through thë body of the container, and--the lid'--makes~sealing engagement with the container inwardly of the said holes. With such an arrangement, lid securing means separate from the lid seal may again be provided a~ a location outwardly of the seal. Furthermore','the'seal itself may be of the flowed~in kind already mentionèd'.''' Furthermore~:the concept of''providing separate securing and sealing means''for''the lid ie not necesarily bound up with the provision of a handle. Thus viewed from a further aspect the invention provides a plastics W090~ll229 P?CT/~ B90/00426 container having an open top which is defined by a separately formed shroud secured around the to~ of the container body, and a lid arranged to ~it in the said open top, wherein the lid makes securing engagement with s the said shroud and, inwardly thereof, sealing engagement with the container body.
An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-Figure ~ is a side elevation view of a plastics container according to the invention, particularly for containing paint;
Figure 2 is a top plan view of the container; and Figure 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view on the line III-III of Figure 2, including an enlarged view.
~ eferring to the drawings, the container basically comprises a generally square-section open-topped body 1 provided w?ith a reinforcing shroud 2 around its top, a pivotally mounted handl~ 3, and a lid ~. ~'iguir?c 1 shows the handle 3 in full lineæ in its stowed position, and in ghost lines in a partially raised position. Referring now particularly to Figure 3, the body 1 of the container has a radially inset portion 6 around its top, arranged to provide an inwardly facing sealing surface 7 for the lid 4 and terminating in an upwardly directed annular wall portion 8 which provides a mounting for the shroud 2.
The shroud is received in the annular space provided by the inset portion 6 of the container body, and includes a central vertical wall portion 9 w?hich engages face to face with the wall 8 of the body to form a double thickness wall and is formed with an inwardly facing annular hook portion 10 which engages under'thé
bottom,~edge of the body.wall:8 to `se`cureIy attach the' shroud to the..body.;. The..shroud 'further--includes'`a lower annular wall portion ll'which ~its flush with th'e top of the side wall 12 of the body 1 to def?ine a substantially .

' ;, , . ~ ! . , .

1". "'' ';`, ' ', ', ' ' " ' ' i"" ' ' ', . ` ",, ,'' ',' ' ' ' . ,' ' '.'; . " ' '; .' ' ~ " ".", ' ' ., , '" " ' '~ ' . , .

WOgo/ll229 PCT/CB90/00426 4 ;~-continuous outer surface therewith, and an upper annularwall portion 13 of inverted V-shape which terminates in an inwardly directed lid securing ~lange 14.
The handle is formed with an integral, inwardly s facing, mounting lug 15 at each end thereof, which mounting lugs are rotatably received in holes 16 extending through the double thickness wall defined by the wall portions 8 and 9 of the body and shroud respectively, barbs lSa being provided on the inner ends of the lugs to prevent disengagement. Thus, the handle is mounted to a double thickness wall defined in combination by the container body 1 and the shroud 2.
The lid 4 o~ the container comprises a substantially ~'lat top 17 formed with a depending annular side wall 18. ~n oukwardly and upwardly projecting annular flange 19 of the lid is formed with an annular rece~s 20, which snaps over the lid securing flange 1~ of thz shroud to secure thc lid in its ~loscd position. The lid ~al is provided by way of a ~lowed-in gas~et 21 provided all around the outside surface of the lower region of the lid side wall 18. An outwardly extending annular shoulder 22 is formed on the wall 18 to define the upward termination of the flowed- in gasket 21, the e~fect of which is that at its top 2s adjacent the shoulder 22, and as clearly shown in the enlarged view, the outwardly-facing sealing surface of the gasket is of arcuate shape so as make a particularly efficient seal with a similarly shaped inwardly facing sealing surface of the shroud wall 9.: To secure the lid in its closed position it:-is simply pushed into the mouth of the container until the lid holding flange 14 on the shroud springs into the recess 20 in the lid, while at the same time the sealing gasket '21 fits 'into the annular. sealing.~surface defined by:thè' shroud.' `'' . It will be noted:~that the seal between;the lid and the container body is located inwardly~of, i.e`. below, the holes 17 provided in the body to mount the handle,' WO90/11229 PCT/~B90/00426 2~4~
s thus ensuring that the contents of the container cannot leak out through the holes and that air cannot gain access to the contents by the same route.
A brush wiping bar 23 extends across the open mouth of the container body, being spot welded at its opposite ends to a shoulder 24 on the inset portion of the body, below the lid seal.
It is to be clearly understood that there are no particular ~eatures o~ the foregoing specification, or of any claims appended hereto, which are at present regarded as being essential to the performance of the present invention, and that any one or more of such features or combinations thereo~ may therefore be included in, added to, omitted ~rom or deleted from any of such clai~s if and when amended during the prosecution o~ this application or in the ~ilin~ or prosecution o~ any divisional appliaation based therQon.
Furthermore the manner in which any o~ such ~ea~ures Oe the speci~iaation or claims are described or d~ined may be amended, broadened or otherwise modified in any manner which ~alls within the knowledge of a person skilled in the relev~nt art, for example so as to encompass, either implicitly or explicitly, e~uivalents or generalisations thereof.

'' . ' ' ` ' `' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ` .'

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A plastics container having a carrying handle mounted thereto at a plurality of locations, the container having an open top which is defined by a separately formed shroud secured around the top of the container body, the container body and the shroud together providing wall regions of double thickness at least at the said handle mounting locations, and the handle being connected to the container by way of holes extending through said double thickness wail regions.

2. A container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said handle is provided with mounting lugs which extend into the said holes from the outside.

3. A container as claimed in claim 2, wherein the said handle is pivotally mounted by way of two said mounting lugs arranged on a common axis.

4. A container as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, which is provided with a lid arranged to make sealing engagement in the said open top of the container, wherein the seal between the lid and the container is located inwardly of, i.e. below, the said holes for mounting the handle.

5. A container as claimed in claim 4, including means separate from the said lid seal for securing the lid in its closed condition, said securing means being located outwardly of, i.e. above, the said holes.

6. A container as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the container body is formed with an outwardly facing inset shoulder around its top which receives the said shroud.

7. A container as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the outside wall of the shroud is flush with the outside wall of the container body.

8. A container as claimed in claim 7, wherein the handle has a stowed position in which an outside surface thereof is flush with the outside wall of the shroud.

9. A plastics container having a carrying handle mounted thereto at a plurality of locations, and having a lid arranged to make sealing engagement inside the mouth of the container, wherein the lid is connected to the container by way of holes extending through the body of the container, and the lid makes sealing engagement with the container inwardly of the said holes.

10. A container as claimed in claim 9, including means separate from the said lid seal for securing the lid in its closed condition, said securing means being located outwardly of, i.e. above, the said holes.

11. A plastics container having an open top which is defined by a separately formed shroud secured around the top of the container body, and a lid arranged to fit in the said open top, wherein the lid makes securing engagement with the said shroud and, inwardly thereof, sealing engagement with the container body.

12. A container as claimed in claim 11, wherein the said securing engagement is by means of an inwardly projecting annular flange on the shroud which snaps into an annular recess in the lid.